One the one hand, glued laminated timber, also called laminated timber beams, glue-laminated beams or glulam, is a structural timber product composed of several layers of dimensioned lumber glued together. By laminating several smaller pieces of wood, a single large, strong, structural member can be manufactured from smaller timbers, for use as ridge beams, garage door headers and floor beams, vertical columns or horizontal beams, often in curved, arching shapes for example. Glulam structural members thus make use of smaller and less desirable dimensions of timber, yet are engineered to be stronger than similarly sized members comprised of solid wood. Glued laminated beams are used in a wide range of applications in both commercial and residential construction.
On the other hand, solid dimensional lumber lengths typically max out at lengths of 22′ to 24′, but may be made longer by the technique of “finger-jointing” lumber by using small solid pieces, usually 18″ to 24″ long, and joining them together using finger-joints and glue to produce lengths that can be up to 36′ long in 2×6 size for example.
There is still a need in the art for a method and a system for fabricating glulam beams.